A Summer to Remember
by ObsessionHell
Summary: Summer doesn't last forever. That can be a hard concept to accept. Once Weirdmageddon was over and Bill was defeated, the only thing left was for Mabel and Dipper to return back home. Even after being reunited with their parents, the Pines twins felt like a little piece of them was left in Gravity Falls.
**A/N Hello once again! What I have for you guys today is my own conclusion to the Gravity Falls finale. We never got to see what Dipper and Mabel did once they got off the bus so I have decided to base a whole one-shot on that. This is also my own take on what I think the twin's parents would be like. It was quite an interesting thing to do really.**

 **Anyways I don't want to ramble on...I hope you enjoy the story!**

Disclaimer: Takes place after the series finale 'Take Back The Falls.' Spoilers ahead.

* * *

A summer to remember

 _"Faded pictures bleached by sun. The tales told, the summer's done. In memories the Pines still play, on a sunny Summer's day."_

The bus drove pass a sign that said _welcome to Piedmont!_

The twins sitting near the back of the bus exchanged bittersweet glances as they rode on. They knew that in any moment they would be back in their little home with their parents. The only thing was that neither twin did not know how to respond to this. Throughout the summer they longed to see their parents smiles, but the two also didn't want to have to say goodbye to their second home; a place called Gravity Falls.

Mabel and Dipper knew that they had to leave eventually, but they never knew that it would be that hard to let go of their wonderful summer with their Great Uncle Stan. Saying goodbye to everyone was a hard thing to do without tears. The twins finally gained some trust and friendship with the townsfolk, and now they had to part ways.

As much as the thirteen-year-olds wanted to cry, they had to put on a strong face. It was all part of growing up. Sometimes you have to do things that you don't want to do. The best way to get past that is to face life head on and not let any setbacks get in the way.

...

And that's exactly what Mabel and Dipper chose to do.

* * *

Finally the bus slowed down to a complete stop. By the looks of it they were parked at the bus stop just about to get dropped off. "We have arrived. Make sure to not leave any of your belongings behind." The driver said in a monotone voice which was opposite of the way he spoke to the Grunkles when he was threatened. Mabel and Dipper nodded and grabbed all of their luggage, walking to the door of the bus. The door opened letting the two take a big whiff of the late summer air. They held each other's hand before walking down the steps onto the pavement with Waddles in tow.

Piedmont was much more different than Gravity Falls. There were no forests and the air was much more thicker. Once their feet hit the ground, the twins imagined themselves taking their first steps in Gravity Falls.

 _Dipper was the most reluctant to go and pictured that the summer would drag on to no end. Mabel was pretty ecstatic at first once she noted all of the cute little woodland creatures around her. The shack looked pretty enticing yet odd. Who in the right mind would turn their house into a tourist trap? Dipper guessed it would have to be someone who was_ _definitely_ _screwed in the head._

The summer went by in a blur. Neither twin thought that they would have enjoyed a whole summer in a creaky old shack all that much. This is what surprised the twins. They already missed everyone greatly, it was difficult to let go of a well spent summer. "Hey Dipper, there's Mom and Dad!" Mabel spoke up bringing Dipper back into reality. The young girl ran at full force and squashed her parents into one giant hug. Dipper didn't hesitate to join her sister in the family reunion.

"Hey kids! Oh we missed you two a bunch!" Mrs. Pines gushed once they released the hug. "We missed you too." Mabel and Dipper said in union both smiling warmly at the adults in front of them. "Looks like you've grown since the last time I've seen you." Mr. Pines nooggied his son earning a laugh from the thirteen year old. "Yeah I have too! See!" Mabel went on her tip toes as a joke and everyone chuckled in amusement.

"Alright you two, let's head home. I want to hear every last detail about my little teenager's summer up in Gravity Falls!" Mom said and helped her kid's luggage into the back of the car's trunk. Both kids nodded in anticipation and looked at each other knowingly. Some things had to stay a secret. They knew that for sure.

Mabel looked down at her feet where her pet pig Waddles sat. "Come on Waddles time to get in the car!" The sweater girl bent down and scooped up the pig earning a tiny 'oink' from the critter. This caught their parent's attention straight away. "Mabel dear...where did that pig come from?" Mom questioned looking slightly disgusted because of it's presence. Dipper inwardly winced at this. He knew all too well what was going to happen.

"It's my pet pig that I won at a fair back in Gravity Falls! His name is Waddles, I call him that because he waddles!" She held the pig closely and wiggled it around a bit. Mom looked a bit revolted at the sight before her. She would definitely not let some pig live in her household. "Mabel sweetie...we already have a cat back home. You can't possibly think that we will be able to keep that pig too." Mrs. Pines tried to reason with the thirteen year old girl. She didn't budge.

"Mom, Waddles is super good! He won't cause any trouble I promise!" Mabel pleaded. Their Mom still looked unconvinced. "We'll talk about this later honey, just make sure the pig stays on the floor." The twin's Mom wasn't completely heartless, she just was a total neat freak. They knew that no matter what, her heart would come shining through. Waddles was probably not going anywhere in that matter.

Mabel and Dipper piled into the car along with Mom, Dad and Waddles. The ride back to their house was mostly quiet other than Mabel's random outbursts of, "I remember that tree! Hey Dipper do you remember that tree!?" and, "Oh and that pond was where we tried to catch fish!" It was obvious that the young girl was excited to be back home.

Their house finally came into view. It was a two story house with a two door garage to match. The building was a light brown colour with a white accent; a nice house for a big happy family. The car pulled up the driveway and into the garage that automatically opened. They all dragged themselves out of the car and opened the trunk to grab their luggage. Mr. Pines closed the garage and the family went through the door that separated the garage from the house.

The Pines twins were welcomed by the nostalgic scent of their own home and the warmth that greeted them in a comforting embrace. Waddles trotted into the tidy house and immediately began to roll around on the soft carpet. Mrs. Pines grimaced because the carpet had just been cleaned not too long ago. "Don't worry about unpacking your things just yet. Come over to the couch and tell us about your summer." Mr. Pines waved for his kids to come join him on the couch where he was sitting.

They dropped their belongings and headed over to the living room. Mrs. Pines quickly suffocated them in a huge hug before they could go any further. "Give your Mommy kisses! I've missed you two way too much! Things just weren't the same!" The adult knelt down and gave each youngster a smooch or two. "Mom this is embarrassing..." Dipper managed to mumble between his mother's smothering. She released her kids and gave them an apologetic expression. "Sorry honey I couldn't help myself." Mr. Pines laughed a bit at his wife's motherly instincts.

After the constant embraces and kisses, the twins were finally able to settle down onto the plush couch. "Well when we first got there I met this boy named Norman. He turned out to be a bunch of gnomes." Mabel started off as their parents blinked several times. "And then we went fishing with Grunkle Stan but went on a monster hunt instead! The lake monster ended up being a machine controlled by a local kook." Dipper added in as Mabel shoved him. "Hey I wanted to tell them that part!" Dipper shoved her back laughing wholeheartedly. Mr and Mrs Pines glanced at each other from their seats but let their kids continue on. "There were also these creepy wax statues that turned out to be cursed and almost tried to kill us." Mabel said.

"I decapitated Larry King."

"And then Mabel went on a date with a crazy child psychic named Gideon. Later on he went to jail but then broke out. All in all let me tell you," Dipper raised his hands and held them over his head. "He had a massive head of hair." Mabel snickered at her brother's description of the nine year old. "Hair bigger than his brain!" The girl chipped in.

Mr. Pines coughed a couple times which silenced some of the laughter between the two twins. They looked over to him once his mouth opened to speak. "Son, I don't recall you owning that hat you got there." He pointed to the fur cap upon the boy's head. Almost instantly Dipper's face flushed and his cheeks reddened. "Oh and that's a whole different story." Mabel grinned at how fast her brother's expression changed just because of the topic.

"There was this super cool cashier back in the Mystery Shack. Her name was Wendy and lil' Dippy over here just so happened to have a crush on her." She nudged Dipper playfully and all he could do was sulk because of how humiliating this was. He would have liked to keep this private. "He always whispered things under his breath which we could all still hear and this one time when Dipper was sleeping he-" Dipper's hand quickly slapped over Mabel's mouth so that no more words could escape from her mouth.

"I think we heard enough Mabel!" Dipper cut in, face as red as ever. He then felt something wet coat his palm with saliva. "Ew did you just lick my hand?!" Dipper released his hold.

"And then Wendy just gave Dipper her hat and she took his." Mabel concluded the story sparing Dipper some of the embarrassment. Mrs. Pines squealed a bit and cupped Dipper's face in her palms. "That's so adorable! Aw my baby boy is hitting it off with all the girls!" Mom gushed squeezing her son's cheeks tightly. Their mother was definitely one to show an excessive amount of motherly love.

Dipper showed lack of amusement as his mother invaded his personal space once again. When she let go he soothed his reddened cheeks. "So kids did you make any new friends?" Mabel brightened up from the question. "Yeah we did! There was Candy, Grenda, Soos, Pacifica, Wendy, Lazy Susan..." The sweater girl rambled on so much that the parents lost count of all the names spoken. "I guess no one can resist my babies!" Mrs. Pines hugged Mabel and Dipper fondly. It would have been a nice hug except for the fact that their mother's hugs were always extremely suffocating and always left you wheezing in the end.

"Okay dear that's probably enough hugging for the day." Mr. Pines cut in once he saw his children looking slightly blue in the face. "Oh alright. Well I think it's safe to say that you two had a wonderful summer and I'm glad! Now I'm going to prepare supper for us. Pizza with smiley faces!" The woman got up from her seat on the couch and left the room with a little skip to her step. Leave it to their mother to treat them like a bunch of little kids. "Yay I love when the pizzas are happy!" Mabel cheered. It looked like it didn't bother her at all really.

"Well why don't you two head upstairs and unpack your things while your Mother cooks dinner." Mr. Pines suggested. His children nodded, snatched their luggage and raced each other up the stairs. Mabel tripped on a step but called out an "I'm fine!" to indicate that the fall was not fatal. "This is going to be weird not sharing a room with you." Dipper said with a hint of sadness in his voice. Back at the Mystery Shack in Gravity Falls they shared the attic together for the whole summer.

Mabel caught on to what her brother was saying. "Don't you worry broseph. I'm like right here, barely steps away. You can't get rid of me that easily." She shoved Dipper playfully. "Yeah you're right." He gave his sister a small smile, she returned the favor right back. And then the twins parted ways into their own separate bedrooms. Each of them quickly realized that their rooms looked exactly the same way as they left it. It was as if it was frozen in the time being.

Mabel plopped her carry on and her suitcase on her bed. All of her knitted sweaters exploded once she opened her bag. "I should make another sweater tonight." She spoke to herself obviously not realizing that she already owned way too many home-made sweaters.

Dipper let all of his bags drop onto the floor as he slipped out of his vest and shoes. He took of Wendy's hat and placed it gently on his night side table. That garment was going to be cherished forever and ever no matter what happened.

The two siblings finished putting their last things away just as their Mom called them down for supper. "Coming!" They responded simultaneously and bolted down the steps. "Whoa careful you two!" Dad dodged the running teens just in time as they ran right past him and into the dining room. The smell of freshly baked pizza wafted throughout the house. The former gleaming twins frowned at what was placed in front of them. "Spinach...tomatoes...this only means one thing..." Mabel and Dipper turned to each other.

"...Healthy pizza."

Mom snorted. "Healthy is better, remember that kids." Mrs. Pines was the type of Mom who always searched up ways to change normally unhealthy foods into healthy foods. She was the health freak that managed to obsess over organic foods and such. Never once did the Pines kids eat one piece of food that was not gluten free, organic, or trans fat free under this roof. It was clear that neither twin should inform her about all of the horrible processed foods they ate with their Grunkle Stan. It would be best to just keep that a secret from their finicky Mother.

"But look sweetie, I didn't forget to add the smiles!" Mrs. Pines sang hoping that her daughter would at least be happy with that. "They are adorable aren't they..." Mabel offered once she inspected the pizza more up close. "Make sure to help yourself to some salad you two." Mr. Pines said and then the family began to eat.

One bite in Dipper could instantly tell the difference between this pizza and the pizza he had in Gravity Falls. He would have to admit that the other tasted much better but he shrugged and took another bite. He just needed to convert back to the old eating habits.

"Thanks for dinner Mom!" Mabel thanked once she finished her meal. "You're quite welcome my dear." And at that the Pines twins left the table without a sound. They had a late dinner so by the time they were done it was nearly time to head to bed. Not only that but Mabel and Dipper were extremely exhausted from the day's earlier events. Something they would like to call Weirdmageddon. "Hey Dipper wanna do a tooth brush race for old times sake?" Mabel held up her toothbrush just as they entered the shared bathroom.

"For old times sake." Dipper joined in with his toothbrush ready to brush his pearly whites.

"3...

2...

1...

Brush!"

The pair of brunette twins began to furiously brush their teeth to out beat one another. "I beat you!" Mabel then choked on some toothpaste that was still left in her mouth. "I beat -HACK- I beat you -GAH-!" The youngster pounded on her chest to try to clear her clogged throat. "Aw man." Dipper complained as he rinsed his brush clean. His sister always seemed to win these type of contests. Mabel completely cleared her throat and then rinsed out her brush all the while grinning at her brother's defeat.

"Mock all you want sister but next time I'll win for sure." Dipper said just as he noticed the never faltering grin spread across his sister's face. "Whatever you say bro bro." Mabel giggled and left the room to get changed into her night time wear. Dipper mirrored her actions and went to put pajamas on as well. It didn't take long before they met each other back in the hallway that their rooms were connected to. "Let's say goodnight to Mom and Dad." Mabel simply found herself saying. What caught Dipper off guard was the change in her tone of voice and posture. Just a moment ago she was doing a tooth brush race with him, all smiles and no sign of sadness.

But now...

Mabel looked as if all of her happiness was sucked right out of her...in such a sort period of time too! "Uh Mabel are you alright?" Dipper's voice wavered a bit. Mabel straightened up just as the words left his mouth. "Of course! Now come on!" She bounded down the stairs and into the living room where their parents lounged. Dipper was slightly confused by his sister's actions. _Just what was going on up in her head?_ Shaking his head, the boy joined his twin down the flight of stairs. "Hey kids you guys hitting the hay?" Dad looked over to where his kids stood, all dressed in pajamas. "Right you are!" Mabel gave him a thumbs up.

"Well if that's the case..." Mr. Pines eyed his wife who eyed him back. "Give us one more big big hug!" The couple stood up and knelt down to Mabel and Dipper's level. In the warm embrace Mrs. Pines spoke. "I just can't explain how much I missed my two little sweet-peas. But all in all, I'm glad you both had a great time with your Great Uncle Stan." Mabel froze at what her Mom had said. It might have been for the fact that a certain someone who she missed dearly was brought up.

"Bedtime kisses for everyone!" Mrs. Pines went and attacked her teenagers with several smooches; again. "Come on Mom haven't we had enough for one day..." Dipper complained but received one giant kiss on the top of his chestnut coloured hair. "Not just yet." She answered back giving each of her children a couple more of her 'bedtime kisses'. "Alright now off to bed kids! I love you very very much."

"We love you too."

And that is basically how Mabel and Dipper's night back at home played out. Although they were homesick for their summer home, the twins were able to make do.

Or so they thought.

...

Later that night a knock on his door woke Dipper up from his restless slumber. He opened his eyes and looked at the clock that sat at his bedside table. The boy's bleary eyes made out the numbers _3:14 am._ "Wha-" His brain could barely process anything at the moment and before he knew it, he was making his way over to his closed bedroom door. It was almost a full moon outside so Dipper's room wasn't all too dark. He was able to make it to the door and open it only to reveal his twin sister standing there. She was holding her stuffed tiger and her pillow tightly in each hand.

"Uh," she began, "do you wanna have a sleepover?" Dipper stared wide eyed at his sister but let her in his room. Once they settled down under the covers of Dipper's bed, Dipper started to ask the questions. "Trouble sleeping?" Mabel nodded. "Same with me."

They paused for a moment.

"I miss Gravity Falls." The Pines twins were both surprised to find themselves admitting the exact same thing. They missed their summer up in the woods with their friends. Being back home felt unnatural to them for some reason. It was if they finally felt like they belonged in the run down shack. Neither twin dared to say a word once they both admitted how they truly felt.

The only sounds that could be heard were their parents soft voices from all the way downstairs. This carried on for a couple more awkward minutes until Mabel had enough. "This just feels...odd, y'know? I just wish we didn't have to leave so soon." She rolled over onto her side so that she was facing her brother. "I honestly feel the same way. I never really thought that I'd miss the old man that much." Dipper agreed, his gaze looking up at the ceiling.

Both twins held a gloomy look upon their faces as they spilled their emotions. "But maybe we shouldn't be upset about this Dipper." Mabel suddenly whispered. "Just think of all the great things we did this summer! Heck, just have a look at my scrapbook! It's filled with amazing memories that I bet we will never forget! Maybe having that with us is all we really need." Her brace-filled half smile glistened from the moon cascading into the room. "Yeah can't argue with you on that one." Dipper chuckled.

The room fell silent once again.

Just as Dipper thought that his sister fell asleep, he was proven otherwise. "And Dipper?" She asked softly making her brother almost jolt from her sudden voice. "Uh yeah?" Mabel turned over to Dipper for the last time, a shadow of a smile appeared across her face.

"Maybe we can convince Mom and Dad into letting us visit again next summer."

Upon hearing those words, Dipper couldn't help but smile as well. "Yeah, I'd like that."

He'd like that very much.


End file.
